What Is Rhyme? | Definition & Examples
Rhyme in literature is using words with identical or similar final sounds, like “cat” and “hat.” Typically, that happens at the end of a line of text, but it can also occur in the middle.
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date;
In these first lines of William Shakespeare’s famous “Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” rhyme occurs at the end of the line.
Because rhyme adds a musical quality to a text, it also makes it more memorable and pleasant to the ear. Due to this, rhyme is a common device in poetry and songwriting.
What is rhyme?
Rhyme is a literary device that occurs when there is correspondence between sounds in words or lines of text. Although rhyme is common in poetry, we also encounter it in songs and some types of prose. It is worth noting that not all poems have to rhyme.
Rhyme connects words and their meanings, ideas, or feelings in an imaginative way. Moreover, writers use rhyme to establish structure and unity in a poem.
Rhymes can be sorted into types based on where the words rhyme in a line or stanza and how similar the sounds are in the words.
Perfect rhyme
Perfect rhyme is the typical example of rhyme in which the stressed vowel sound and any subsequent sounds are identical in both words. Perfect rhyme is also known as exact rhyme, true rhyme, or full rhyme.
true—blue
mountain—fountain
dead—head
dock—rock
men—zen
Slant rhyme
Slant rhyme (also known as near rhyme or half rhyme) describes words with similar but not identical sounds. In most cases, slant rhyme involves different vowels and similar consonants or vice versa—for example, “hand” and “lend” or “fate” and “save.”
He kindly stopped for me –
The Carriage held but just Ourselves –
And Immortality.
Emily Dickinson, “Because I could not stop for Death”
Internal rhyme
Internal rhyme occurs when two words rhyme within the same line instead of at the ends of lines. It can also occur between internal phrases across different lines, either randomly or in some sort of pattern.
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride,
In her sepulchre there by the sea—
In her tomb by the sounding sea.
Edgar Allan Poe, “Annabel Lee”
End rhyme
End rhyme is the most common type of rhyme and occurs when the last word in a line rhymes with the last word in the next line. It is important to note that end rhyme describes the position of rhyming words within a stanza and can involve either perfect or slant rhyme.
Once they happen, they still are here.
And you can move on and forget them but they still exist somewhere.
So no matter how far behind you leave them, they still wait for you there.
Sarah Kay, “Scaffolding”
Eye rhyme
Eye rhyme occurs when two words have almost identical spelling but sound different if you read them out loud. In other words, they look like they should rhyme and yet they don’t— (e.g., “through” and “rough” or “love” and “move”).
Ashes and sparks, my words among mankind!
Be through my lips to unawaken’d earth
The trumpet of a prophecy! O Wind,
If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?
Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Ode to the West Wind”
What is a rhyme scheme?
A rhyme scheme is the specific rhyme pattern a poem follows at the end of each line. Rhyme can happen within a line, but rhyme schemes describe end rhymes in a poem.
Rhyme schemes are encoded by using a letter of the alphabet. In a poem, each line is given a letter, usually starting with “A” for the first rhyme. Lines that rhyme with each other are assigned the same letter.
Rhyme schemes have different types, such as alternate (ABAB), enclosed (ABBA), and coupled (AABB).
A: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
B: Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
A: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
B: And summer’s lease hath all too short a date;
William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”
Frequently asked questions about rhyme
- Which words rhyme with you?
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Words that rhyme with “you” are accrue, blue, clue, construe, dew, grew, hue, queue, shoe, shrew, true, and zoo.
Use QuillBot’s free Paraphraser to find creative word choices for all of your writing.
- Which words rhyme with me?
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Words that rhyme with “me” are bee, degree, debris, flea, ghee, glee, sea, spree, key, tea, plea, and pea.
Use QuillBot’s free Paraphraser to find creative word choices for all of your writing.
- Which words rhyme with love?
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Words that rhyme with “love” are dove, glove, shove, and above.
Use QuillBot’s free Paraphraser to find creative word choices for all of your writing.
- Which words rhyme with orange?
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Although the word “orange” is generally regarded as having no perfect rhyme, there are words that nearly rhyme with orange, such as hinge, syringe, and four inch (two words).
QuillBot’s free Paraphraser can help you find creative word options for all your writing!
- What is near rhyme?
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Near rhyme describes words with similar (but not identical) sounds. This type of rhyme is also known as half rhyme or slant rhyme. Examples of near rhyme include “hand/lend” and “fate/save.”
